Share this with

Clean eating bloggers would have you believe that eating organic will save your life and save the planet in one delicious flurry of oh-so-healthy vegetables.

There’s just one problem – organic food isn’t actually that great for the planet, a new study has shown.

(It also only has ‘marginal’ health benefits – and it’s far too expensive).

The study in journal Science Advances found that while organic farms use less pesticides, they’re also far less productive – so they use far more land, which is damaging the planet.

Lead researcher Dr Verena Seufert, from the University of British Columbia, said, ‘Organic is often proposed a holy grail solution to current environmental and food scarcity problems, but we found that the costs and benefits will vary heavily depending on the context.’

(Picture: Science Advances)

She added: ‘While an organic farm may be better for things like biodiversity, farmers will need more land to grow the same amount of food.

Advertisement

Advertisement

‘And land conversion for agriculture is the leading contributor to habitat loss and climate change.’

Here’s why organic food might actually be worse for you

(Picture: Shutterstock)

Is organic food actually better for you? There’s a whole industry of bloggers, ‘clean eating’ fans and food companies who will tell you that it definitely is.

But does the science actually back that up? Science channel ASAP science has rounded up recent research – and found many rather surprising facts.

Perhaps the most shocking is that organic farms use pesticides – and sometimes use ones which are more toxic than the ones used by ‘normal’ farms.

‘But organic farmers can still use pesticide, they just can’t be synthetically made – and some natural pesticides are a more serious health and environmental risk than synthetic ones. Natural doesn’t always mean better.

Previous reports have highlighted the risks of toxic copper sulfate – used by some organic vegetable growers.

Organic food is alo more likely to give you food poisoning, according to ASAP science – with one study suggesting that up to 10% had traces of food poisoning bacteria E Coli.

ASAP Science says, ‘Organic food has a higher incidence of product recalls. On average 1% of food products are recalled – but 7% of organic products.’

There’s also little evidence that organic food is actually better for you – although it’s often up to 47% more expensive, according to Consumer Reports.

A 2012 Stanford study analysed 237 previous studies of organic foods and found that most here, ‘no more nutritious than conventionally grown foods’

‘There isn’t much difference between organic and conventional foods, if you’re an adult and making a decision based solely on your health,” said Stanford’s Dena Bratava.